At first, the moose looked perfectly at home lounging in a Cottonwood Heights backyard.

But paved streets and chain-link fences don't make the best habitat for an approximately 800-pound bull moose, and police called in wildlife biologist Craig Clyde. On Feb. 3, he approached the creature with a dart gun and a plan to release it back into the wild. The moose had other ideas.

"After a couple of false charges, he came at me and I had to get out of the way," he said. He was finally able to lodge a dart loaded with immobilization drugs in the massive creature's hide, but the adrenaline running through the moose's veins initially overrode the effects.

So Clyde ran up and grabbed the moose, holding on to one of its sweeping antlers as it slowly circled to the ground. It was loaded into a trailer and later released in Diamond Fork Canyon, another human-moose encounter ended.

As dramatic as it might be, a moose in a Wasatch Front neighborhood isn't all that unusual. As people move into the foothills around the mountains and other parts of animals' traditional winter ranges, more wildlife has ended up in residential areas.

Last year, close to 10 moose were removed from residential areas in the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources' central region, which includes Salt Lake and Utah counties. In the northern region, which includes Davis and Weber counties, close to 50 moose were removed last year, said Randy Wood, wildlife manager for that area.

Animals naturally seek lower elevation when the snow gets deep, looking for warmer areas and more plants to eat, Clyde said. Moose often wander into neighborhoods at night, and when the sun comes up, they are surprised to be in the middle of humans, cars and barking dogs.

They often react by finding a secluded spot, like a backyard, to lie down, and that's often where they are sighted, Clyde said.

Last year was unusually busy for moose in residential areas. Several flush years had increased the population, and a harsh winter drove the animals further afield to find food, Wood said.

This year's numbers have decreased -- about six in the northern region and two in the central region.

Animals are most likely to end up near homes in January and February, and sometimes in June, when female moose chase off older yearlings for new calves, Clyde said.

A moose can be dangerous to humans who get too close, he said. Their eyesight is often poor, and can be made worse by disease. And if a moose feels threatened, they could charge, he said.

"Be careful and give them their space," Clyde said.

lwhitehurst@sltrib.com